UNDP in Tajikistan

6 Develop a global partnership for development

Where we are?

UNDP meeting with Japanese Ministers, only one of the many Development Partners, UNDP works with

MDG 8 is aimed at creating new mechanisms for global partnership to address critical issues of socio-economic development of developing and transition countries, as well as improving existing mechanisms for cooperation between the developed and the above-named countries.

Links need to be updated so that international and regional financial and economic organizations, NGOs, the developed countries, and transnational corporations can contribute to the elimination of mass unemployment, lowering levels of external debt, and rapid development of information and communication technologies. Tajikistan is the most vulnerable, not only in Central Asia, but even in the Asian continent in this respect.

As a result of numerous factors, Tajikistan’s place is among the least developed countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Timor Leste. This country needs more and intensive assistance from international donors, since the low GDP per capita, brings the risk that the seven MDGs with regard to Tajikistan are unlikely to be met without such assistance.

One of the indicators of Goal 8 is the unemployment rate among young people. According to different expert estimates, in Tajikistan, around 30–59% of young people are jobless. The country does not have the logistical or the financial capacity to employ the growing number of young people from year to year. As a result, they seek jobs either in the informal sector, or leave for other countries in search of work. And the number of young people entering external migration is continuously increasing. The international community has not yet paid due attention to this category of youth.

The growth rate of both fixed and mobile phone networks in Tajikistan is far behind other CIS countries despite the boom felt in the country. Installation of telephones in rural, mountainous and outlying areas is occurring at slow pace. Many rural areas are not fully covered by any fixed or mobile phone network. Internet services in Tajikistan also lag far behind other countries, although the rate of growth in the number of Internet users is high.

In Tajikistan, access to information and communication technologies is constrained by low demand of the population and decreasing overall literacy. The above technologies are widely used by people with relatively high incomes, and poor and extremely poor groups of the population remain excluded from their active use.

In recent years, the external debt structure has been deteriorated with increasing proportion of debts of bilateral nature, i.e. individual countries. Some of these countries acting as borrowers have their geopolitical interests. These debts are usually not written off and can put pressure for a long time. Another not less serious point is that there is still no effective monitoring on effectiveness of utilization of the borrowed funds. Neither the central government authorities nor businesses get used to a practice where the resulting profit would be the main source of debt repayment and its interest.

In Tajikistan, there are numerous international microcredit organizations that carry out operations either directly by themselves or involve local NGOs as their representatives. In the past ten years, they have achieved a great deal, not only in such areas as microcrediting in order to increase self-employment, and develop micro and small enterprises, but also in disseminating skills and knowledge on the use of micro and small loans. Thus, such organizations have already managed to make an important contribution not only to improve living standards, reduce poverty and unemployment, but also relieve social tension in the country.

In general, the current achievements in Tajikistan are difficult to imagine without the purposeful and regular activities of such organizations, which provide the country a wide range of much needed assistance.